Oil-well tool



Aug. 11, 1925. I 1,548,866

' s. BULLUM OIL WELL TOOL Filed March 2. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR,

A TTORNEYJ.

Aug. 11, 1925.

S. BULLUM OIL WELL TOOL Filed March 2, 1 2 sneetsshe et z r 51 3 re ATTORNEY Patented Aug, 11, 1925.

warren stares STEVE BULLUIVJI, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

OIL-WELL TOOL.

Application filed March 2, 1922. Serial No. 540,633.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, S'rEvn BULLUM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Oil-Nell Tools, of which the following is a SPGCIfiCEIr' tion.

This invention relates to oil well tools, and particularly to a wire line grip and the method of using the same for roving or threading the casing cable or line over the sheaves located on the crown block, as well as the sheaves in a pulley block.

The invention has for an object the provision of a novel structure and the method of using the various members comprising the invention inits adaptation, which is superior in point of relative simplicity and application for the purpose desirech'combined with ease in handling.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel and useful provision, formation, inter-connection of the relative parts, members and features as disclosed in the drawings, described in the following statement, and finally pointed out in claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a grip member utilized in practicing one embodiment of the invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of the clamp member shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary side elevation of the clamp member.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary side view showing the link members of the clamp member connected with an eye, which eye in turn is normally supported by a third member;

Figures 5 and 6 are fragmentary views showing the method of application of the grips for holding the casing cable in position while roving the sheaves on'the crown block; and

Figure 7 is a, fragmentary view showing a method by which the grip member may be inserted within the casing for the purpose of holding the tool cable in position.

Corresponding parts in all the figures are designated by the same reference characters.

It is a well-known fact in the oil industry, that the weaving or roving or threading of the sheaves on the crown block is a difficult and hazardous task necessitating usually two men located on a platform adjacent the crown block, one of said men-roving the casing line over the sheaves, while a second man roves a portion of the cable over one of the sheaves of the pulley block. The ordinary procedure is to unwind possibly one hundred fifty feet of manila rope and climb with the same to the top of the derrick to a platform adjacent the crown block. The operator then passes said manila rope over one of the sheaves on the crown block so as to lower both ends to the floor of the derrick, whereupon the wire line is attached to one end of said manila rope and by hand operation the same is drawn upwardly to where it may be passed over the sheaves. The end of said wire line is then lowered to the second operator who roves it around one of the pulleys of the pulley block and the operation is repeated. lVith my invention the hazard of lowering the cable line, as well as supporting the. pulley block, which is of enormous weight below the crown block, is done away with. In particular the casing cable is partly unwound from the calf wheel, and by utllizing a gripping member to be described, a portion of said casing cable is held, while a second gripping member is attached to the tool cable. Upon turning the bull wheel under power, the tool cable is of course raised,

and the casing cable is likewise raised. A gripping member hangs from the crown block and the operator at the crown block grasps a portion of said casing cable and looks it to said grip, taking the free end of the cable'and passing it over one of the sheaves, then reversing the relative position of the gripping members so that a removal of power from the bull wheel will allow the tool cable to fall under its own weight and tend to draw the casing cable back down to the floor of the derrick. Of course before this is done and before allowing the casing cable to again pass within the well casing, the grip attached to the crown block is released so that the cable may move easily over the sheaves. On the derrick floor is located the pulley block and the operator there passes the free end of the casing cable through the pulley block so as to engage one of the sheaves, whereupon the grips are reversed as to position with a portion of the line slack and the operation is repeated by turning the bull wheel under power to raise the casing cable with the tool cable. This of course saves time and labor and makes the operation easy.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly to Figure 1, the grip member A includes two arm members 1 and 2 provided at their extremities with eyes Said arm members likewise carry jaw portions 4 and 5 which are arcuate in formation and provided with furcated heads 6 and 7. The said jaws are hinged together as at 8, and a relative movement in one direction or the other of said arm members, will cause the furcated portions of the jaws to overlap, as shown in Figure 2. As a result any size of cable may be accommodated by the jaw members. Link members 9 and 10 are accommodated within the eyes 3 and may pass to where they are inter-connected with an eye or ring member 11. If two of said grips A are used in practicing the invention, then the two grips are inter-connected at their eye portions 11, as by means 01 links 12. In Figure 5 one of the grips A, shown at 13, is held suspended as by means of a rope 1a connected with the eye or ring 11 from a crown block 15 of an oil well derrick. lit is obvious from an inspection of the drawings that a pull upwardly on the link members 9 and 10 of the grip shown in Figure 1 would cause said jaws to move toward each other so as to grip any object such as a cable within the furcated portions 6 and 7 If we interconnect two of said grip members A, as shown at 16 and 17 in Figures 5 and 6, we have a double-acting relation, the jaws of the member 16 closing upon a tool cable 18, while the member 17 might close upon a casing cable 19. I have of course assumed that these grips are used for oil well purposes, and in connection with the tool cable and the casing cable. In particular the derrick is shown at B with the upper extremity of same provided with a crown block 15. The flooring of the derrick is not shown, nor is shown the pulley block, as these devices are well-known in the art. As stated in the operation, one of the grips as 17, would grip the cable 19 which is carried on a calf wheel 20, while the grip 16 would grasp the tool cable 18. It is to be noted that there is a slack portion as illustrated at 21 in the cable 19. The second grip A shown at 13 hangs just beneath the crown block 15. A tool cable passes over a drilling cable sheave 22 on the crown block, and has a portion thereof contained upon a. bull wheel 23. One of said lengths passes upwardly from the bull wheel over the sheave 22, with the second length passing within the casing for connection with the tools for drilling. An operator at the crown block grasps the, loose end or slack end 21 and passes it over one of the sheaves, as for instance, one of the casing sheaves shown at 2%, or the sand wheel sheave shown at 25. A portion of the cable 19 is gripped by the member A, as shown at 26, whereupon the grips 16 and 17 are reversed as to position and the end of the casing line is drawn back toward the floor of the derrick upon removing power from the bull wheel 23, as well as releasing the grip A, shown at 26 in Figure 6. Upon the floor of the derrick, as stated, is a second operator who passes the end 21 over a sheave on the pulley block, whereupon the operation is repeated until all of the sheaves are rove.

It is obvious that many changes and modifications and variations may be made in practicing the invention in departure from the particular description herein given in adapting the invention to varying concitions of use and service, without in any manner departing from the true spirit of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus disclosed my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In apparatus of the character disclosed, a clamp comprising hingedly connected jaw members having operating arms and oppositely directed heads adapted to cooperate in pairs in gripping a cable at points be tween which the hinge Zone of said jaw members is disposed.

2. In apparatus of the character disclosed, a clamp comprising hingedly connected aw members having operating arms and oppositely directed heads adapted to cooperate in pairs in gripping a cable at points between which the hinge Zone of said jaw members is disposed; in combination with members for swinging said arms.

3. In apparatus of the character disclosed, a clamp comprising hingedly connected aw members having operating arms and oppositely directed heads adapted to cooperate in pairs in gripping a cable at points between which the hinge zone of said jaw members is disposed; in combination with members for swinging said arms; said gripping heads being adapted to overlap in each pair and being recessed so as to operatively grip ables of different dimensions.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

STEVE BULLUM.

Witnesses J. CALVIN BROWN, J. SI-IUTT. 

